Saturday, January 6, 2018

Bits and Pieces



Serious lectures.


Amazing sunrises.


Midmorning lattes.



Early risers get the best views in Palm Court.

(the time stamp on the photo says 0647...and yes, that is a lovely mix of plastic water bottle and Wedgwood bone china, iPad, iPhone, earphones, Big Camera, Little Camera, binoculars and needlepoint.  I was laying claim for the long haul).


And yes, I've gotten the bug.


Last of the Serious Ice

The Belloit Strait would be the last of the "serious" ice- the stuff that was worrying Serenity's Captain Vorland (although he wouldn't say so until after we were safely through).  We knew something was up when- on the advice of our ice pilots- he requested of the Canadian government, and received, the help of an additional icebreaker.







Working as a team, the two icebreakers serpentined through the pack ice.






Learned a bit about spotting polar bears at a distance...this is a male- narrower hips, thicker neck.


Female- wider hips, shorter, thinner neck.


One of my favorite photos from the whole trip- KOWABUNGA!!!!



One hardy guest. The temp was about 17f with a wind of about 20 knots. Note, also, the rain streaks on the window between us (I wasn't crazy enough to go out there just for a photo of her flipflops....)






Ice is beautiful isn't it?  Until you realize that bright blue stuff is Serenity's underwater hull paint scraped off by it...


About a third of the way through the 18 kilometer strait, the pack ice broke up, and Des Grosseilliers  turned around to sail back to help another ice breaker make a safe passage.





The northernmost tip of  continental North America.




These photos aren't all mine.  Many thanks to the countless guests and crew who madly airdropped photos back and forth, eager to share the best of the best with all.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Ice Ice BABY

Meet Ron. 


He's the operator of our Cineflex camera- a 5-axis gyro stabilizing platform  that houses a camera with a 1400mm lens.  Which basically means we can see a mile-plus away with perfect steadiness.


My camera...


Ron's camera.


Letting Ron do the work means I can also watch wildlife from the comfort of my stateroom..




And it was the ONLY way I could see this mama and her cubs scamper and play on the ice.


Thanks, Ron.

The rest are mine....

We approached the pack ice, having picked up a second icebreaker, Les Grosselliers, overnight.




And the rest, as Monty Python would say, is mainly visual.